Leo After Hours | Bionic Human

March 10, 2016 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

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You’ve heard of “i-limbs” and artificial organs, but do you know how advanced technology for prosthetic limbs has become? Learn how tech that used to be in the realm of Sci-fi is rapidly becoming reality.

Join our panelists and a moderator Jennifer Napier-Pearce as they discuss the science of bio-engineering and how bionic limbs are starting to replace standard prosthetics with the help of modern technology.

Panelists:

Gregory Clark – Leader of the Bionic Hand research team. This team, involving neuroengineers, material scientists, electrical and computer engineers, surgeons and rehabilitation specialists, received $1.4 million in 2015 to further develop an implantable neural interface that will allow an amputee to move an advanced prosthetic hand with just his or her thoughts. The neural interface will also convey feelings of touch and movement. Read the article here

Matthew Beckstead – Bilateral hand amputee who was a volunteer in G. Clark`s studies. As an added bonus, Matthew, who lost his hands in an electrical accident when he was 19 and has recently participated in the study of the Utah Slanted Electrode Array, will be at the event showing off the advances in bionic limb technology that has allowed him to move his left hand for the first time in 16 years. To learn more about Matthew and the research study he participates in: click here

Darrin J Young – USTAR associate professor in the electrical and computer engineering department at the University of Utah, who heads the Wireless Microsystem Laboratory there. One of Young’s most promising projects is an implantable middle-ear microphone that could restore hearing to deaf patients without the external hardware necessary for today’s cochlear implants. To reads Darrin`s profile click here

James Tabery – Associate Professor of Philosophy and Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine at the University of Utah. Jim Tabery’ s research focuses largely on the philosophy of science and applied ethics, as well as the intersection between those domains. On the philosophy of science side, he investigates questions of causation and explanation in biology; while on the applied ethics side, he explores how the answers to those questions have ethical, legal, and social implications. Read the review of his book “Beyond Versus”: here

Cache Pitt – Clinical Assistant Professor of Audiology at the Utah State University. Dr. Pitt provides clinical supervision to graduate students in Audiology who are completing clinical practica in Pediatric Audiology, specifically those experiences related to cochlear implant mapping/programming. Meet Cache and his colleagues: here

This event is Sponsored by USTAR – The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (http://ustar.org/)